Placating A Whining Child

This afternoon just before nap time, Alycia was acting up and was whining away. I tried to placate her by reading a story book to her but that did not stop her from whining. Suddenly, I choked on my own saliva and kept coughing. As Alycia was still whining away in my ear, I pretended to ‘choke myself to death’ and after coughing for a moment, I ‘lay motionless’ on the mattress. Alycia was shocked to see mummy ‘lying motionless’ on the mattress and she stopped whining. As she called out “mummy, mummy, mummy….” and on the verge of tears, she took her bolster and hit my face, as if trying to wake me up. She then slapped my face gently and tried to force open my eyes. When I couldn’t hold it anymore, I burst out laughing and gave her a big hug. Alycia too began to laugh and soon, she had forgotten all about what she was whining about and gladly went to nap.